


End Of It All

by AOnceToldStory



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Character Death, Friendship, Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 10:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AOnceToldStory/pseuds/AOnceToldStory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate ending to the 2007 Transformers Bay movie.</p>
<p>What if, in Mission City, Sam never got the chance to kill Megatron with the Cube? Instead Megatron managed to overpower Optimus. Optimus ordered Sam to do what must be done, and so Sam pushed the Cube into Optimus' spark chamber. But in the process he was interrupted by Megatron, and half the Cube remained intact. Optimus didn't die, instead he was just put into stasis lock, and Megatron decided to keep him that way for now...</p>
<p>This is the story of how, after being beaten, the Autobots and their human friends must struggle for their survival as captives while Megatron and his new Cube-created recruits are forming a plan that will put not only every human under their dark Decepticon rule, but the Autobots as well…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Megatron's Victory

**Author's Note:**

> This story is on hiatus, I've uploaded it to see who are interested in reading more of it than I've written so far, after that I'll consider continuing it, so please, if you like it, send kudos or comment - it's very appreciated!

**Mission City…**

It was finally done. What he'd fought so hard to get for all these years was his at last. He could feel the power that still flowed inside if the Cube rushing up his arm and spreading through his circuitry like a flood of powerful energy. It tickled inside of him, a need to try the forces in his hand on the human technology that soon would serve his Decepticon cause.

Megatron looked from the glowing Cube, down to the ground below. Before his giant mechanical feet laid the legendary Optimus Prime, immobile and helpless but still online, in the dust and pieces of blasted concrete. The sight of the red-and-blue Autobot leader still wasn't what made Megatron's first triumph so great. No, it was the small silhouette of a human child, trembling in pain in the shadows of Optimus' ripped off shield. This tiny, organic life form and his old relative were what had caused all of Megatron's problems since his arrival on this wretched planet.

Samuel Witwicky, as he remembered it. This hero among humans had fallen for Megatron's hand as well as Prime. The boy sat leaned to a big piece of concrete, holding his dirty hands over a bleeding wound in his leg. The huge Decepticon ruler could smell the blood, a harsh smell he automatically referred to as the smell of victory. He liked it. He longed to smell more of it.

As nothing but a black blur and a brief sound, Starscream passed over the scene. The small hope that had rested deep inside his processor, a hope that Optimus Prime would defeat Megatron, was blown away the moment he saw his leader standing over the body of the Autobot. It was replaced by overwhelming pride and amazement as he turned in mid-air and transformed.

"Great lord Megatron, victory is yours."

"Starscream, my loyal servant, this is barely the beginning of my complete victory," replied Megatron, greed and power lust on his deep voice. "Find somewhere to keep this useless piece of junk until I say otherwise! I'll deal with the rest of the Autobots."

Starscream bowed in respect, but remained put. Once again he had to deal with Megatron's dirty work. How in the world would he transport an Autobot that was both bigger and heavier than himself?

Sam fought the grip of Megatron's giant metal fingers when the Decepticon roughly grabbed him. He was held in eye level and felt how Megatron squeezed him between his fingertips. It hurt, but nothing could compare with the agony of the flesh wound on his thigh, an injury caused by Megatron's foot when he'd been kicked away from Optimus when destroying the Cube.

"You won't win!" he yelled at the Decepticon, less courage on his voice than he'd hoped. "The Autobots will keep fighting you."

"Yes, they will fight," replied Megatron and smiled scornfully. "And they will perish."

With a struggling Sam in one hand and the glowing Cube in the other, he stepped over Optimus' limb body and marched down the demolished streets, towards the ongoing fight between his servants and the outnumbered Autobots. As he went by, he chose cars and trucks along the way that seemed functional, and concentrated the powers of the Cube through his hand to the vehicles. One by one they transformed into vicious killing machines, different in looks but not in mind, and fell in line behind their new master.

"Follow me, my army!" ordered Megatron, waving them in the right direction. "Fight the Autobots! Capture them all!"

Sam could do nothing except watching as the new Decepticons rushed ahead and joined the battles around him. There was no sense in fighting Megatron's tight grip, he just wouldn't let go. Sam knew that the Decepticon ruler wanted him to see his friends suffer and die. It all reminded him of a movie he once saw, the screams, the blasts and explosions. Then nothing had been for real, and now here he was, captured by the enemy, forced to watch as the Autobots were brought down and captured.

The sound of Barricade on his left — he could never forget the cop's growling voice — caught his attention. The seemingly small, black-and-white lieutenant came up beside Megatron and stared at Sam with red-glowing optics full of hatred.

"Shall we destroy them, master?"

"No," said Megatron slowly, tilting his head curiously. For a brief moment he looked a bit human. It took a while before he spoke. "Disarm them and take them to Starscream's location. We'll deal with them later."

"And what of the humans?"

Megatron smiled a bit and the glow in his eyes shone menacing.

"The leaders only, the rest will die."

"Yes, master."

Barricade transformed and raced down the street, eager to take out as many Autobots and humans as possible. The sight of his ruler with the Cube had encouraged him and all other Decepticons. There was no turning back now — by the end of this day, the Decepticons would have captured the Autobots and the world would be lost...


	2. Ratchet's Struggle

"Ironhide, can you back me up?"

The black weapon specialist saw what the old medic meant, nodded and threw himself out of the way of a seeker's missile. It missed his chest plate by an inch. Before landing he fired his booster canons. The spark chamber of an enormous female Decepticon flashed before she dropped to the ground and made way for another Decepticon's blasters.

Ratchet rushed to the exploded towing truck. In a heap of concrete trash, destroyed car parts and pieces of yellow Autobot shell laid Bumblebee, strapped to the remains of the truck with chains. Both his legs were ripped off at the knees, the blue shine in his optics was fading and his energon level was running low. The medic kneeled beside the young bot that fought to stay online. Ratchet knew from all the years he'd spent healing wounded soldiers that Bumblebee's time was limited. He had to concentrate on the worst damages, that be the big piece of rusty metal that pointed out of Bee's chest plate. His damaged circuitry flashed.

"Mi... kaela... the truck..." stuttered Bumblebee quietly. Even the soft whisper caused him pain to pronounce. "Mi-mikaela..."

A powerful blast behind them and Ironhide who opened fire. Something on their left side, probably the windows to a store, exploded and glass rained down over them. Ratchet worked quickly, but since his own arm had suffered damage too he couldn't do enough. He lost his concentration when the sound of blasts came closer. The number of enemy fighters rose rapidly by the second. That could only mean one thing...

"There's too many of them!" exclaimed Ironhide behind them.

Ratchet fired his blasters towards the line of Decepticons that closed up to the black bot. If he left Bumblebee the young Autobot would die. If he didn't help Ironhide they might all die.

"They've captured Jazz! They've captured Jazz!"

Worry mixed with hatred and pure rage drove Ironhide to fight. The new Decepticons wasn't at all as powerful as the old ones, and Ironhide's constant shooting created a growing wall of blasted and dead Decepticons. Still their numbers where overwhelming, and their aim was close to flawless. Ironhide couldn't defend himself against them all.

As Ratchet did his best to spare Bee further pain, he pulled the metal splinter slowly out of the bot's circuitry. Then happened what just couldn't happen. Ratchet twitched and the edge of the metal splinter cut another wire in Bee's chest. It flashed, and Ratchet's worst fears were realized.

Bumblebee's voice was strained. "... S-Sam... Sam..."

"No..."

Bumblebee used up the last of his weak energon to say the name. The blue glow in his eyes flickered and disappeared as his spark faded. But before Ratchet could mourn his failure, he was grabbed from behind and pulled away from Bumblebee's sad appearance. Three Decepticons, neither of them familiar to the old medic, pushed him in front of them and forced him to kneel in the dust in front of a much more familiar con. The Decepticon leader stared down at him.

Ironhide was there too. He'd been damaged by the many blasters of the enemy, and laid flat on his back beside Ratchet. Injured as he was his whole being still radiated an undying will to fight. The weapon specialist raised his cannon towards the Decepticon, but his actions angered a female Decepticon that left the perfect circle of warriors and tore the blaster off of his arm. Ironhide let out a groan of pain and had his cannon tossed to his head. Ratchet could do nothing but to watch.

"No use in fighting back, Autobots," declared Megatron, threateningly leaned over Ratchet. "You have lost."

He showed the Cube and his now hopeless, despairing hostage to the two Autobots. He enjoyed the reaction his trophies caused.

"No! Sam!" exclaimed Ironhide, weakness overpowering him.

"The Cube," whispered Ratchet. Realization struck him hard. "Optimus!"

"Your leader has been defeated and his rule over you is at an end."

Ratchet couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. He looked deep into the threatening red optics of the enemy. Something told him that Megatron was lying; if it was a feeling or experience or his medical skills he didn't know, but somehow he knew for sure that Optimus was still alive...


	3. Sam's Grief

He didn't listen to a word they were saying. He didn't have eyes and ears for anything but what he was looking at right now. He wanted the sight to go away, to change into the inverse. He would do almost anything to change what had happened, and make sure that this would never happen. This in particular. He just couldn't believe that Bumblebee was dead...

The black-striped yellow camaro that he'd so quickly fallen for, the cybertronian robot inside of it that he'd so easily befriended, laid on a heap of broken metal, cement and shattered glass, dusty and dirty. One hand resting over a flashing hole in his chest, the other still a blaster. His legs, blown off at the knees. His head - Sam looked closely but could see no lights in his eyes — leaned to the smashed back of the towing truck cabin. The towing truck...

Mikaela. She'd driven off with Bee chained to the truck, determined not to leave without him. How on Earth had she ended up here, in the middle of the battle? Sam just couldn't understand, couldn't make sense of all that was going on. Had he really lost both of them? The thought broke his heart, and the pain it caused him to look at the wreck was just to much. He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining he could see Mikaela at her most beautiful, smiling at him in the sunrise, leaned to the hood of a shining, flawless, yellow camaro. He liked the picture and kept it in his mind, saved it as a memory he'd never get.

Everything shook and the sudden change of, yeah, practically everything caused him to scream loudly. For a moment he was just floating in mid-air until something once again had a hold off him and Sam found himself strapped to a surprisingly comfortable pilot seat. Outside the windscreen of the giant, cybertronian aircraft he could see Mission City from above as Megatron navigated between the skyscrapers. The sight was quite astonishing, the sun made the buildings shine and shimmer, but he could not ignore the loud sound that came from Megatron's growling engines. It reminded him that no matter how beautiful the world was now, it would not be for too long.

The familiar F-22 jet flew past them and let out a machinery sounding noise that Sam had only heard once before; the annoying little killer machine that had attacked him while Bumblebee was fighting Barricade. The memory reawakened his sorrow but he managed to suppress his wish to cry. He would not give the Decepticons that pleasure. Megatron healed over after replying to Starscream, and through the glass, Sam could see the approaching football stadium, surrounded by hundreds of Decepticons with loaded guns. Someone he recognized from the battle — we know him as Devastator - was forcing Ratchet to his knees beside Ironhide, Optimus and a silvery, little bot that Sam soon remembered as the cool Pontiac Solstice that'd come with the others (in his mourning state he could not remember said bot's name). Another Decepticon - this one answering to the name of Blackout - threw something that resembled a huge, broken toy in front of Jazz's feet. The disarmed lieutenant looked away, grief and hatred mixed up inside him. 

Then something very small came running between Devastator's legs and hid behind Ironhide's foot, followed by two others. The closer Megatron came to the stadium, the clearer it got that those tiny things were humans. The closer Sam got to the field, the more obvious it became that what hid behind the black weapon specialist was none other than Mikaela.

"What are you going to do with them?" he let out, reacting on protective instinct?

The Decepticon ruler gave no reply, but descended towards the stadium to join his loyal servants and captive foes. Sam could almost feel how the giant ship trembled with the frenzy of his newly achieved victory. It was odd to be able to sense any feelings at all from a being who had slain his best friend and love of his...

No. That was Mikaela. She was alive!

He felt a wave of relief and happiness flow through him, followed by an eagerness to hold her in his arms again. He returned to the picture in his imagination, manipulating it so that he held his lips closely to Mikaela's glossy ones. Why wouldn't he feel even more happy at the picture when there was still a chance of it becoming reality? Because she still leaned to the hood of Bumblebee. 

The lost friend. The fallen warrior. The huge, broken toy...

He was hovering in the air once again. But this time, no large metal-fingers caught him in their grip to stop his fall. For what felt like several long seconds he was falling towards the ground. It was a tickling feeling, until the grass of the stadium closed up to him. Then something, or someone, ran towards the spot where he would land. When he should have hit the ground and got his life beaten out of him, he found himself laying, very much alive, in the lap of major Lennox.

"Will!" sounded a voice over the stadium. "Will!"

"Sam!" shrieked another voice.

His sight was a blur as he tried to rise up. His whole body rejected the movement, but he could now see two figures running over the football field towards him. The shining, dark skin of Lennox's friend — he couldn't remember his name — and the slender shape and dark hair of Mikaela closed up to him. She threw herself down beside him, tears of either happiness or fear streaming down her blooded face. A thought he didn't want appeared in his clouded mind.

You're no beautiful, Mikaela. You look like you've been through a war.

Well, she had. He knew it more than anyone. He'd seen the wreck. Her entire body was stained with blood, her left eye swollen and her brunette hair was a complete mess. She missed one boot. But she was their, she was alive and she cared for him.

Sam didn't get a chance to talk to Mikaela before Epps (he suddenly remembered the name from somewhere) took him up in his strong arms and laid him down on the grass. Beside him, the dark man leaned over Lennox, talking seriously to him about things Sam could not hear. Then Mikaela appeared over him, smiling in her own, lovely way.

"You okay, Sam?" she said quietly, touching his cheek with her fingers.

"Never better," he replied, his brain still clouded and fuzzy.

Her smile faded, replaced by even more tears. "I thought you were dead. I thought..."

She was interrupted by the too familiar sound of cybertronian blaster fire. When she looked away, her face expression froze, her eyes gleaming with fear. Sam tried once again to rise on his elbows, pain shooting through his back. But he could see, and hear, how Megatron roared words in an unknown language. He kicked away something with his mountainous foot.

Sam's eyes widened when he saw Bumblebee trying to fire his canon again.


	4. Jazz's Attitude

Jazz admired Bumblebee's foolish courage. It was no less than he had expected from the yellow guardian, the constantly brave and kind-hearted one of them. Yet, that good quality in him was going to get him killed... for real! Wasn't it enough to almost be shot offline twice? To have both his legs blasted off? Obviously he didn't think so, now that he highered his already damaged blaster towards Megatron a second time.

There was no way for Jazz to stop it. His servic arms were shackled behind him, back-to-back with Ironhide, Ratchet and the still in-stasis Optimus. All of them had gotten their weapons ripped off of their arms. They were surrounded by well-armed Decepticons. He could only watch as Bumblebee's faint blaster fire missed the huge Decepticon leader by several meters.

_What do ya think you can gain from that, man? You're too weak to take 'im on alone._

The grassy ground exploded dangerously close to Bumblebee's head as he tried to crawl away from Megatron's stomping feet and constantly firing canons. The Decepticons laughed at the guardian's pathetic struggle, cheering their leader on as he followed Bumblebee when he tried to flee. Jazz could barely watch, just waiting for the moment when Megatron would grow tired of this cruel game and put Bee offline for good.

_Where'd ya get tha energon, kid? You were dead. Don' go getcha self killed again…_

He remembered the concern he'd felt when Bumblebee had been captured, barely a day ago, by the human government. He could still see the imaginary pictures he'd had when it happened — his friend locked in a giant tube (he didn't even know if that was how the humans did it) as a subject for the humans to experiment on. He wanted to go after the choppers that brought their comrade away, but Optimus wouldn't let him. He looked up to and respected Prime, but he'd doubted the decision to leave Bee behind. Optimus knew Jazz's bond to young Bumblebee that had grown beyond companionship and into friendship.

What Jazz had not realized until then was that their friendship... had grown into brotherhood.

"The game is over, foolish Autobot. Your time is at an end."

Bumblebee had stopped trying to crawl away. Now he laid flat on his back, Megatron menacingly standing over him, blasters aiming for the young bot's head. He let out a sound that was something between a grunt and a laughter. The Decepticons had silenced, now waiting for the killing blow. Only the heart-breaking sound of Sam's screams pierced the silence.

_No, pal, I'm not gonna let ya down again!_

"No, Jazz, wait!" yelled Ratchet.

Hands still tied behind his back, Jazz got on his feet and set off as fast as he could. He was engaging Megatron's steady legs before anyone noticed he'd moved. He wasn't helpless just because he did not have his weapons anymore. For once, his tiny body was a benefit. He used his legs, and what little he could do with his arms, to climb up the metal leg of his enemy. Megatron desperately tried to shake him off, but couldn't. Another, triangular-shaped Decepticon ran forwards.

"No, Starscream! I'll take care of them myself!"

Then, for some reason that Jazz didn't see coming, his electric shackled vanished. He could use his hands freely. But the realization distracted him, and Megatron got hold of him. Small as he was, it was easy to grab him with one hand.

"Autobot scum! I will crush you into oblivion!"

Another blast rung out, and Jazz was sure that somebot from the crowd had shot at him. But then Megatron called out in pain and revealed a deep, circuitry injury in his shoulder. Jazz flew out of his grasp and transformed into his silvery car mode.

_Thanks, Bee!_

He raced off at top speed, only to turn in the last moment by the arena wall and head straight for Megatron again. Now he questioned himself. What would he gain on fighting the Decepticons when he was completely outnumbered and overpowered? Nothing, except a well remembered, too-early death, he realized. But it was too late to transform back and return to his place beside Ironhide and Ratchet. All he could do was race into the crowds of new Decepticons and hope he could drive down as many as possible before he was killed.

Blaster fire rained down around him now, coming from every direction. So much for that plan! It was one thing if Megatron tried to take him on by himself. Jazz could outrun that oversized 'Con anytime. But in a small, human arena with limited space and at least fifty pair of canons firing at him, he might as well say good-bye to his newly received Earth sports car looks.

Pain. That laser beam had scratched his left front, puncturing the tire. As is that wasn't enough to get him out of balance, the grassy ground was slippery. He guessed his Earth form didn't come with cybertronian clutching spinners. As the supposed-to-be joke passed his mind, another blast in front of him would have ruined his engine if he hadn't transformed back into robot mode. He flew through the air and ended up on his stomach on the ground. He stayed down.

"Stop!"

The command echoed through the arena as every single Decepticon lowered their weapons and silenced, once again waiting curiously for lord Megatron's next move. As he slowly strode towards Jazz, he let a quiet smirk grow into a scornful laughter. He towered himself over the fallen Autobot, boasting about his might without having to say a word. It was obvious to anyone now that if Megatron wanted to crush the tiny bot, it wouldn't be too hard.

_I've had a nice run anyway._

Jazz could fell not only Bumblebee, the Autobots and the Decepticons staring at them, but Sam, Mikaela and the human warriors as well. Everybody waited for what was coming. They all expected death, in one way or another.

Megatron crouched down over Jazz. "You know, I could rip you apart... piece... by piece."

_Ok, that's not tha way I planned to die._

"But since I find that you could be useful to me," the huge 'Con smiled. "I'll let fate decide."

Before Jazz even had the chance to move, Megatron rose up, put a foot under him and roughly turned him over. Now he laid on his back, somewhat dizzy. Further away he could see Mikaela turning away, Bumblebee slowly shaking his head and Ironhide suppressing an idiotic will to blast every Decepticon with canons he no longer had. Then, lord Megatron highered his own multifunctional blaster and aimed it at Jazz's silvery chest.

"Survive this!"

_At least now we're both known for our foolish courage, Bumblebee. ___

__The great Decepticon leader fired his canon and everything went dark._ _


	5. Optimus' Remorse

**Decepticon Headquarters…**

He did not have to think of what had happened. The moment he reactivated his optics he remembered his defeat, his failure. What had been lost because of him? What remained of the peaceful planet they called Earth? His mind recalled the battle. For the shortest imaginable time he'd looked away from the enemy who intended to kill him. In that split second, Optimus had focused on something else, someone else. That had cost him everything. The shot rang out, his chest exploded and he fell to the ground. The human child had known what was requested of him, and he'd tried to destroy the Cube by uniting it with Optimus' spark. Optimus had felt the world slip away, his energon getting drained from him. He'd thought for sure that he was going offline, that his failure would be corrected by his death. With the Cube destroyed, Jazz could take on Optimus' leadership and lead the others to victory against the Decepticons.

But Optimus was online. Had Ratchet found him and fixed him up? If that was the case then he'd underestimated the medical skills of his medic friend.

He looked around, realizing he was searching for light in complete darkness. With his optics unreliable, he focused his hearing sensors and tried to figure out where he was. Then he heard it clearly, and it couldn't be too far away; music. Human music, calm and graceful, sad in a way he did not like. He'd never heard anything like that. For a moment he feared that it was affecting him in some way, for when he listened to it he could feel something, deep inside, changing. But he kept listening to the soft sounds — it was the only proof he had of not being alone.

He rose into sitting position, slowly not to draw attention to himself. His metal coverings scraped against the floor, which seemed to be made out of stone. He knew the cold feeling of Earth stone. He'd felt it before. That proved he was still on Earth.

"Optimus, you're online. Thank Primus..."

Happiness and relief filled him at the sound of his old friend's voice. But it turned into concern when he realized how weary Ironhide sounded, how weak and helpless the once tough, hot-tempered and trigger-happy warrior seemed to be. Something had happened to him, but what? Optimus feared the answer.

"Ironhide, what happened?" he asked steadily. "Where are we?"

It was a long time before the weapon specialist replied. "I'm not sure. Earth, still. Decepticon Headquarters."

Then they had lost the battle. Optimus' supposed-to-be sacrifice had been in vein. The thought of what had become of the peaceful planet he'd sworn to protect hurt deeply. The humans had been promised freedom and safety, a chance to live on instead of being destroyed the way Cybertron was. Because of his failure, this world would fall under the darkness that followed the wicked Decepticon cause. He found it hard not to blame himself for it all when he thought it his fault, but his role as a Prime came with responsibility. He knew a part of his team were still online, and it had to come first until he could figure out a plan.

"Are you hurt?" The question was usually Ratchet's to ask.

"I'll live. They took my canons."

A long silence — the distant sound of the faint music was the only thing that broke it. Then he could hear how Ironhide moved across the floor somewhere close, crawling rather than walking. The noise revealed that he could not walk, out of weakness or injury he could not tell. Optimus knew now that he was in a dark cell of some kind, or locked in a big prison hall. The music came from the other side of wherever they were. Ironhide crawled closer, and now the weak, blue glow of his optics pierced the darkness. Optimus looked at his old friend for a while, taking in every mark of battle, injury and proof of what had been done to him. Both his servic arms had been stripped of their weaponry. The legs were immobile, chained together with electric chackles.

All in all, he looked more helpless than he'd sounded.

"We lost. We were all taken here a few decacycles," Ironhide replied to Optimus' wondering gaze. "Mikaela. Six... no, five human warriors. Ratchet, Bumblebee and myself. I haven't seen Jazz since..."

He closed his optics as if remembering something terrible. The shaken Autobot leader did not want to trouble him further, and decided not to ask about his second-in-command. But there was more to it — he feared the answer.

Optimus' realized now that it was young Bumblebee who played that mournful music. He turned his head towards the source of the sound, trying to decide for how far away the second survivor from his team was. He felt a desperate need to see the guardian, as if Ironhide's words weren't proof enough of his existence. He tried to crawl towards the music, only to find that an electric chain was hooked around his right servo leg. He only got a few meters further before it stopped him.

"It's better if you just let him be," whispered Ironhide carefully, surprising Optimus by reaching out and laying a hand on his leader's shoulder plate. In the deep darkness the weapon specialist's blue optics were filled with compassion.

Optimus realized something. "You did not say about Sam."

Ironhide's silence was all he needed for an answer. For what would Bumblebee mourn if not his human friend, who he'd so eagerly risked his life for? Who would Megatron, cruel and twisted as he was, torture and punish if not the human who caused all his trouble? Sam Witwicky, courageuos and loyal.

Optimus punched his metal fist into the floor and heard how the solid stone cracked and gave way for his strength. The sound echoed through the darkened, enormous cell. In the distance he heard how Bumblebee paused his music for a few seconds, but then gave in to sorrow again and played it. Rage filled Optimus' spark, heating up his circuitry.

"It was not supposed to be this way," he muttered, trying to hold back his fury. He wanted to blast his way out of the Decepticon Headquarters, as Ironhide had called it, and take out every bot in his way. He wanted to fight Megatron again, to make up for his now complete failure. Sam was gone, most certainly. Optimus and his team were as good as offline. The human race was lost, and Earth had fallen along with them. He'd broken his promise.

"You blaming yourself won't help any of us," Ironhide said gently. "It's not over yet."

No matter how hard he tried, Optimus saw no hope. He was just about to tell that when a door in the other end of the hall flew open. A bright light cut through the darkness and dazzled the Autobots. Bumblebee's music was cut off and replaced with the growling voice of the Decepticon in the doorway.

"Here's your human, Bumblebee," laughed Barricade teasingly and tossed a limp Sam on the stone floor in front of his guardian.


	6. Mikaela's Song

The heart-broken cries left her throat before she allowed them. "Sam! Sam! Get up, Sam!"

But he did not move. He remained on the cold stone floor, immobile like a broken toy, his right arm twisted the wrong way and his face turned away. His shirt and jeans were torn to shreds, revealing blooded and bruised skin under them. Nobody dared imagine what the ruthless Decepticons had done to him.

Mikaela crawled forward on hands and knees from behind Bumblebee's broken legs. Sobbing and crying she made it across the floor to the teen boy's side, the yellow guardian closely behind her. From the other side of the room another person ran forward from the shadows. Epps, dark-skinned, sweaty and dirty, had abandoned his still unconscious comrade to help. He knelt beside Sam's limp body, scanning it quickly with his black eyes. Concentrated on saving what could be saved, he completely ignored Mikaela's and Bumblebee's presence.

Mikaela had eyes for nothing but the boy in front of her. Carefully, as if trying not to wake him up, she took his pale, left hand in hers and held it tight. His skin was cold — he might already be dead. But the dark soldier laid a hand on Sam's chest, pushed two fingers to his throat and started speaking loudly to his seemingly deaf ears.

"Samuel, can you hear me? Move something if you can hear me!"

He waited. Mikaela waited. Everything waited, but nothing happened. Epps had confirmed that Sam was still breathing, but Mikaela were too lost in panic to realize that. She kept squeezing his immobile hand, tears streaming down her face, eyes focused on his closed eyelids. She knew that Bee was watching them from behind her, wanting the teen to wake up just as much as she did. She knew that in the other corner of the hall, Ratchet, Ironhide and Optimus were waiting too. She'd heard them talk, whispers that echoed over to her.

For weeks she had just been sitting in her own corner, curled up behind Bumblebee, listening to his music and feeling how the stone walls stole her warmth. She wouldn't sit with the soldiers. She didn't want to talk to anybody. There was only one person who could really understand her and her sorrow, her hopelessness and fear. That's because he knew how she felt. Bumblebee felt the same way.

She couldn't hold it in anymore. "Sam, please, live!" she cried out and shook his body.

"Listen, if you can hear us you must move an arm or a leg. Can you do that?"

"Dead! His dead! Gone! Sam, please, no!" She was completely insane with sadness now, totally unreachable and unreasonable. She grabbed her fat, dirty hair, sweat made her face shine and the dark circles around the eyes made her look even worse. She couldn't help it — she was heart-broken. She'd been through it all, slowly realizing that what had begun as acquaintance had grown into something far deeper.

The teen who died before her... she realized that she loved him.

It was Bee that in the end gently picked her up and held her close in his cold embrace. She hugged his metal fingers, something she could desperately hang on to as her world slowly fell apart. She stopped her loud crying and calmed down until her sobbing was the only sound that broke the silence.

Another soldier named Merrill can forth from the corner. "Will he be okay?"

"I hope so," replied Epps, gently putting Sam's twisted limbs back in the right position. Then he turned his dark gaze towards the soldier. "Lennox?"

Merrill shook his head slightly. His blonde curls were dirty, and he wore his army jacket tied around the waist over a stained, sweaty undershirt. He looked no fresher than any of the others after the month of inprisonment in this dark cell. The dark green eyes were tired but alert to everything.

Still hiding in Bumblebee's big, servic arms, Mikaela watched the two men gently carrying Sam to the back of their corner of the hall, talking quietly. She didn't catch what they said, only curled up tighter towards the cool metal of the yellow Autobot's chest. It felt good when it stole her warmth and she thought it resembled the heat from her that Sam would bring with him in death. She glanced at the doorway in the rear end of the great hall — it was empty. Barricade had left without anybody noticing it, leaving the door open.

It didn't matter. They could not escape anyway. Ironhide had already paid the price for trying to leave their prison. They would never be able to drag themselves out without being noticed. Maybe if they left the wounded... No, never. She'd rather die than leaving Sam or anybody else to the shadows of this prison. All of them would.

Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?

"No, Sam..." she whispered to herself. "Not if you're not there to hear me say it..."

Bumblebee gave out a hopeless, mechanical sound that resembled a sigh and sunk down on the floor, the rattling of his electric chain echoing through the silence. The blue glow of his optics faded slowly — he was falling into stasis. If he did, Mikaela would be left alone in this god-forsaken hell. In an attempt to keep him awake she did something she'd never thought of before.

She started singing.

Bumblebee woke again with a start and listened carefully. Even the soldiers that cared for Sam stopped. Ironhide and Optimus silenced. Everybody took in the tones of Mikaela's broken voice, a simple, happy melody from a song that her father had used to sing to her in the car. She repeated it, again and again, changing it slightly every time. It felt as if she'd not be able to stop, and most of all that she did not want to. It was calming, and it fit.

_I did my best, it wasn't much  
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch  
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you  
And even though it all went wrong  
I'll stand before the Lord of Song  
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah  
Hallelujah, hallelujah  
Hallelujah, hallelujah…_

She fell silent, along with the rest of the prison when the echoes of her voice died out. But Mikaela's song remained in everybody's mind, a clear voice of hope that they could hold on to. They were all so spellbound that it even took Epps a while to realize that Sam had started coughing.

"Sam!" he exclaimed and took up the teen's head in his lap. "Talk to me, kid, are you all right?"

It took less than a second for Mikaela to be on her feet, jump down from Bumblebee's arm and start running towards the soldiers and her beloved. The song had given her the hope, and the strength came when she met Sam's hazel brown gaze. He focused his eyes on hers, tears streaming down both faces as they fed on each other's presence. Epps did not break in, neither did Merrill or the others.

Speechless at first, Mikaela removed a lock of dark hair from his forehead. "You're bleeding."

He did not try to rise up or move. He just looked into Mikaela's dirty face, quiet and expressionless. But they both knew, Mikaela knew, that from this moment on no Decepticons would ever get in their way again.

This she vowed as a tear fell down on Sam's broken arm.


	7. Megatron's Plan

With a red gaze that could pierce through the core of Cybertron itself, Megatron looked out over the enormous hall. The walls and roof were made out of solid, enhanced steel, lit up by human created light bulbs that his followers had yet to understand. The floor was covered in desert sand, a material he liked for its indestructibility and flexibility. But Megatron wasn't admiring the sand. He was furious about the broken pieces of metal that were scattered about the hall, stained with the black fluids of transformer intestines.

The new Decepticons were weak. Together, their firepower was acceptable. But in one-on-one combat, they were close to useless. In the far corner, Brawl had just demolished yet another newcomer, this one a golden female that looked like it could burst through the walls. But looks deceived, and now the femme was nothing but junk. Megatron watched dissatisfied as her legs and arms were thrown across the hall. 

"Not even a challenge," mumbled Brawl, apparently bored.

"Send in two at the time!" ordered Barricade through the speakers from his place in the temporary command center. One small, black newcomer and one bulky, silvery one came rushing through the sand, and barely a minute later they were scrap metal under Brawl's mechanical feet.

"Perhaps Earth machinery is not powerful enough a material for them," said Starscream softly behind his master's back. He kept it low, knowing that he was topping the great lord's list for 'cons who would pay for this plans' failure.

Megatron gave out a muffled snarl. "No... It's the Allspark."

Then he left, without another word, through a hole in the wall that acted as a door out of the hall. Starscream hesitated, but followed soon after. He trailed after the Decepticon lord, thinking desperately of what to say that would not fuel his Master's anger. When nothing came to him, he simply asked Megatron what he was thinking.

Megatron growled back at him. "I cannot crush the human defenses without more firepower. The ones I create with the Cube aren't strong enough to fight alone, and the Cube isn't powerful enough to create the numbers I need."

They had entered another chamber, much darker than the desert hall, with shut down and destroyed human-sized control panels on the walls and a huge piece of concrete high enough to act as a table for the transformers. On its flat top lay the remains of the Cube, glowing faintly in the dim room. Megatron put his hands on it, let its power flow through his circuitry. For a long moment, he remained silent. When he spoke next, his mechanical voice wasn't nearly as strained as before.

"I need warriors with intelligence, strength, experience. I need true Decepticons, but I..." Then he silenced.

"What is it, Master?" wondered Starscream, not sure whether the sudden change of expression on Megatron's face scared or facinated him.

"The Autobots," whispered Megatron. "It's them I need. What are their statuses?"

Starscream was startled, but searching his memory for Soundwave's medical reports. "Prime is online now, but reloading's slow. Ironhide and the medic are being kept at low energon levels. The little one is as good as offline — we're keeping him that way. And the guardian..."

"Bumblebee, I believe Barricade called him," added Megatron, deep in thought.

"Yes, Bumblebee. He's made a stunning recovery, may I say. His stabilizing servos were torn off. Several vital circuitry lines damaged. If I might add, he has quite an aim."

Starscream glanced down impulsively to a burnt and damaged piece of his thigh plate, where a shot from the golden guardian's canon had hit him. He remembered how, by somersaulting and transforming, the small Autobot had eluded his bombardment and driven off without a scratch. He'd felt mocked and oddly impressed by this insignificant Autobot, but he chose not to sugarcoat Bumblebee too much in front of Megatron. As if he hadn't already.

Megatron remained silent. "What are you on to, Master?" asked Starscream, truly curious now.

There was a long silence, through which only the quiet humming of the two Decepticons' sparks were heard. Then, out of all things he usually did, Megatron smiled. "Send Barricade to recover the guardian's legs. We're going to do a little experiment on him with the Cube. If I can create Decepticons from Earth machines, why not from an Autobot?"

With that, he left the room with Starscream still standing by the Cube, taking in what his leader had just suggested. A smile turned up on his metal lips as well. "This could be a lot of fun," he thought grimly.

\- - -

Epps had ordered Sam to stay down until he and Ratchet could figure out a way to bandage his arm and leg. The left arm was clearly broken, maybe more than once, but the leg had just suffered a major spraining. Apart from that he probably had a fracture to the lowest rib, some cuts and bruises and a concussion, but he'd survive. Michaela held his hand tight, talking slowly to him since the dizziness made it hard to concentrate. Sam's eyes flickered between his girlfriend and golden guardian, who had crawled up to them and sat hunched while trying to stop the flashing circuitry in his legs from connecting.

"Isn't there anything you could do?" asked Sam once more, trying to look over to Ratchet.

The Medic hesitated, remembering how he'd failed his mission as a field medic when trying to fix the young guardian's circuitry in Mission City. But whether he was afraid to fail again or just not sure what to do, it didn't matter. He was chained to the wall too far away to reach over to Bumblebee.

An all too familiar, scrapping sound echoed through the dungeon and the dim darkness gave way for the light coming from the opening cell door. A huge figure which non of the Autobots had seen before entered the prison hall, giving off an odd, Cybertronian sound as it approached the group of humans and robots.

Nobody said nothing, until the bulky Decepticon grabbed Bumblebee's shoulder plate and dragged him away. Ironhide was on his feet, fighting against the reinforced chains that wouldn't give way for his strength. Sam tried to move, calling Bee's name in desperate rage and yelling at the Decepticon to let go of his guardian. In this state of chaos, only one thought drove Sam to move no matter how restraining the pain from his broken limps were:

"You won't take him again! YOU WON'T TAKE HIM!"

Sadness and fear shone in Bumblebee's blue optics as the thick metal door closed between him and his friends, leaving the prison in darkness once more. Through it, above Sam's cries, the Autobots and humans could hear Bee's squirming as he fought to get free, followed by a loud crash and Bumblebee's racked groaning. 

Sam refused to relax in Merrill's grip. "What will they do to him, Ratchet? Ratchet!"

But Ratchet remain quiet. He exchanged mournful looks with Ironhide and Optimus in the other corner, both too hopeless to even try to imagine what fate was awaiting their young comrade at the hands of the Decepticons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last finished chapter I've written so far. The eighth chapter, "Bumblebee's Legs", is in progress, but I cannot say when I'll come back to finish it and/or the story. Please, comment what you think of the story thus far - maybe with the right inspiration I'll get back to writing on this… Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!


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